NH3-N loss from urea applied to Malaysian soils
V. Purushothaman and K.T. Joseph
Abstract
Urea was applied to soils with varying physical properties and the NH3-N volatilised determined. The enzyme urease was found to be widely and variably distributed in Malaysian soils, causing rapid and uneconomical losses of nitrogen. The role of various soil properties was studied and the particular effect of cation exchange capacity (CEC) on NH3-N loss discussed. A negative exponential relationship between NH3-N volatilised and CEC was obtained. This relationship will be useful in predicting loss of N under regimes of uniform urease activity.
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Field evaluation of granular in secticides against rice stemborers in west Malaysia
Heong,K.L., G.S.Lim, and T.K. Loh
Abstract
Eighteen granular insecticides, broad-casted by hand at the rate of 1.1 kg/ha at 15, 40 and 70 days after transplanting, were evaluated for the control of rice stemborers in the paddy field. Prethylene 3G.,Padan 10G., Birlane 5C., Furadan 3G..Terracur P5G., Cytrolane10G..,Thiodan 5G., BHC 6G. and Bayrusil 3G were found to be effective against rice stemborers. Among these Prethylene 3G. was most outstanding.In relation to fish toxicity, Thiodan 5G. and Furadan 3G, were observed to be more hazardous than Prethylene 3G., Cytrolane 10G. and Birlane 5G.
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Drying of paddy (Raw.Rice) using microwave energy. An initial report on trials in Malaysia and England
Ooi Ho Seng Ray Wijewardene, Ayob Sukra and R.A.Shute
Abstract
Microwave heating offers a much faster method of grain drying than conventional methods.In the trials carried out paddy was dried from moisture content of 30.0% to 13.0% (w.b.) in 20-30 minutes. Grain temperatures were kept below 45°C by blowing ambient air through it. The drying performances under possible commercial drying configurations were evaluated.A feature of the present design was the gravity-fed pneumatic conveyor system. An estimate of cost shows that annual capital cost per ton of paddy dried using microwave energy is about the same as that of the latest conventional drying complexes in Malaysia while fuel and operating cost is about a third to half that of the latter.
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Protein sources for feeding pigs in Malaysia I. Fishmeal
Hew Voon Fong and C. Devendra
Abstract
Two trials involving 60 cross-bred pigs were conducted to study the effects of different local fishmeal levels on performance and carcass charactcristics of growing-finishing pigs. The objectivc was to determine the optimal economic level of fishmeal inclusion. Increasing the fishmeal from 0 (all-vegetable based control) to 5, 10, l5 and 20% in the diet increased the daily liveweight gain of the pigs, but further increases of fishmeal levels 25 and 27.15%, depressed growth rate. Feed intake followed the same trend with intake increasing from 0 to 20% fishmeal, but decreasing with levels higher than 20%.The number of days taken for the pigs to reach slaughter weight was least for levels at l0 to 20% fishmeal. However, no differences in carcass characteristics was observed for all pigs. An attempt to identify the optimal level of local fishmeal inclusion within the range of 10 to 20% gave no differences in overall performance. However, the 18% level of fishmeal appears to be optimal as it gave the best growth rate as well as carcass characteristics. Dfferences in the quality of imported and local fishmeal are also stressed. The use of local fishmeal at levels of l0% to 20% is recommended because local fishmeal is cheaper than the imported one.
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Studies on varietal performance and agronomic characters of long bean (Long Bean Varietal and Correlation study)
Tan Swee Lian (miss)
Abstract
Fifteen varieties of long bean were evaluated for their performance on mineral soil. The best yielding varieties were Sabah Biji Hitam.Sabah Biji Hitam M.U.3,Yates Red.Kapok and Fiji. Of these, Fiji had the best keepingquality. In general, these varieties were early flowering and produced longer and more pods.Correlation studies on eight characters also showed high association between yield and pod number,seed number per pod,pod lenght and 100 seed weight. Seed weight was positively correlated with keeping quality of pods.The path coefficient analysis determined that pod number and pod lenght had the greatest direct effects on yeild and so should prove to be effective selection criteria.
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